Remember that God sees what we don't

If you were to take an informal survey with the question "what are you afraid of?" you would probably hear some extremely interesting answers. Spiders, snakes, closed-in spaces, heights, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters.

The point is that we are all afraid of something.

In Judges 6, when we officially meet Gideon, he is not the valiant warrior and leader that he will become. We meet a skeptical farmer who is hiding for his life. He is found one morning threshing out wheat in a wine press. The dirty job of separating grain from the stalk was executed by beating the heads of the plant, separating it from the straw and tossing the mixture of chaff and grain into the air letting the wind separate them. The grain then fell to the ground while the wind carried off the chaff.

Gideon is not performing this task in the open plain, though. He is hiding in a wine press -- a cave -- creating a massive cloud of dust that coats everything in sight. He was in the cave because his homeland was at war. Anytime anyone would go out to harvest their crops or thresh their wheat, raiders from all directions would steal all they had. He was afraid, and he had reason to be.

In this cave a messenger from the Lord spoke to him saying, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." A farmer hiding in cave coated in cloud of dust is not the picture of a mighty warrior. Mighty warriors are off training for battle, leading an array of men, negotiating peace or even spiritually preparing by praying for the courage to obey. Gideon, the self-described littlest member of a weak and uninfluential family, was hiding.

There is something extremely valuable in this title. God sees what we don't. While we see only a few feet in front of us, God sees our entire lifetime. God sees us not for what we are but for who he has created us to be. He sees who he desires you to become as he works in and through your life.

Before God could work through Gideon, he first had to work in Gideon. We cannot expect to see the amazing wonders of God working through us without him first working in us. No matter the fear of today trust in the God of tomorrow.

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.